There is a chemical in the blue windex that is the same in antifreeze.

[Kflowers]

3 drops even on a paper towel will kill your dog, it's reasonable to assume less will kill your cat. Tell people with other animals about this. I knew some dogs reacted badly to the smell, this I did not know. These articles are from March 2022. How long has this been known? I expect it was in lists of cleaning products not to use around pets, but it deserves special notice. Dogs and some cats happily eat paper towels. Some lick windows. White vinegar is a safe product to use to clean windows.

Think Twice Before Adding Windex to your Windshield Wiper Fluid - Glass.com

While Windex is a great product for the glass in your home, you shouldn’t use it at all on your windshield, even to clean the glass. The effects are even more damaging if you ever add Windex to your wiper fluid or replace it for your fluid altogether.

info.glass.com

Why You Should Stop Using Windex

If you love streak-free windows, chances are you have Windex in your home. Here's why you should stop using it, and what to do instead.

www.thealternativedaily.com

 

[Willowy]

I'm pretty sure that if 3 drops of Windex on a paper towel killed dogs, there wouldn't be very many dogs left in the US. Neither of those articles say that, do you have a source?

 

[Kflowers]

I did a search and I found the orginal source which I'd seen quoted on another site by someone I trusted and still do trust. However, I've now found the 3 drops source and it's on FB which I do not get. If you do, please judge the source.

Not knowing the orginial source was why I looked up the two sites that I posted and offer their remarks to measure the danger. Honestly, if I'd realized the orginal source was FB I wouldn't have believed the poster. However to give the information it's due, 3 drops is probably not poisonous more maybe. Here are other sources about Windex.

My Dog Drank Windex What Should I Do? | Our Fit Pets

The contents of the OurFitPets.com website, such as text, graphics, images, and other material contained on this site (“Content”) are for informational purposes only. The Content is not intended to be a substitute for professional veterinarian advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Always seek the...

ourfitpets.com

https://www.justanswer.com/pet-dog/1pj7y-windex-harmful-dogs.html

The dogs I knew that got sick from the smell, though it's possible they licked the dried Windex on the cabinets, were in the
50 lb range. Of course, size is no measure of reaction to chemicals.
After all, I've known cats who happily ate french fries and were fine.

 

[IndyJones]

I would have lost my vision or possibly be dead if Windex was really that bad. My mother used it all over the house. Once I remember spraying it right in my face and eyes it stung like fire and tasted terrible but I was fine. I was under a year old and still remember it.

 

[Kflowers]

I'm relieved to here that, I'm really tired of everything being dangerous.

 

[stephanietx]

My husband is an asthmatic and we use vinegar, baking soda, and hydrogen peroxide for all our cleaning.

 

[CatladyJan]

I use Windex for some things and I have no problems, ethylene glycol in high amounts would probably do some damage even to humans if ingested.

 

[daftcat75]

The first article contradicts the premise. Windshield wiper fluid has antifreeze in it. Windex does not. That's only one of the reasons they state you should not use Windex as wiper fluid.

The second article is one of the worst kinds of pseudo-science. It probably started with material safety data sheets and animal studies on individual ingredients and tried to backwards extrapolate the hazards to the finished product. Menadione (synthetic vitamin K) is an example of why this doesn't work. There is a big difference between menadione as a workplace chemical for feedlot operators (a powder that poses a respiration risk and exposure in much greater quantity and concentration) vs the feed ingredient eaten by the animals (completely different route of administration, e.g. ingestion vs. inhalation and much smaller quantities) vs the food ingredient in cat food. You cannot say that menadione presents the same risk to cats as it does to feedlot operators unless the cats are pouring the bags of menadione into animal feed themselves. It is the same thing with using material safety data sheets and animal studies of individual Windex ingredients. If water had a material safety data sheet, it would say that it's corrosive to some metals and fatal if inhaled. But we don't inhale water, and our gut doesn't rust.

And totally spit-balling this point here, but SC Johnson, makers of Windex, are not a cruelty-free company. It wouldn't surprise me to learn that they've already conducted numerous unnecessary animals studies themselves on the safety of their cleaners.

If Windex was really that toxic, we would have heard about it long ago. The universe of pet owners is not universally conscientious about the cleaners they use and the exposure to children and animals.

I don't recommend Windex because it is ammonia-based. If you have a territorial cat or a cat already peeing outside the box, you could create or persist a problem using ammonia-based cleaners. My Krista was peeing up my walls to get my attention about her teeth. Thank goodness the vet was able to decipher that. When we fixed the teeth, the behavior mostly stopped. Every time I used Windex on those mirror doors she had peed on, she would refresh her scent over the Windex. When I switched to the ammonia-free version of Windex, she stopped doing that. Surface wipes are also ammonia-based (most of them.) It's tough to find those wipes in a non-ammonia version. Seventh Generation makes them. I believe you can also find non-ammonia wipes in the baby section of Target. I forget the brand now. I try to use baby-safe fragrance free cleaners anyway even though I don't have a human baby in my household. If it's safe for a human baby, it's likely safe for my fur baby.

 

[sivyaleah]

I literally just today saw this pass by a Vet group on Facebook and they absolutely said it is NOT true.
It's amazing the stuff that gets passed around and taken as truth so easily.

 

[Kflowers]

Thanks for the detail look, daftcat. We avoided ammonia-based cleaners for the reasons you give. Your logic and reasoning about SC Johnson company is something to remember.

 

[mani]

Since it seems this is not an issue affecting cats' health we'll lock this thread.